GLACE 

A  Narrative  of  Hydraulic  Cement  Mined 
in  the  Lehigh  Valley 


TP 
879 
P4  G55 


A  Narrative   of    Hydraulic   Cement 
Mined  in  the  Lehigh  Valley 


WITH    A    DESCRIPTION    OF    ITS    USE 
IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS 


BY  WILLIAM  H.  GLACE 


1912 


A  Narrative   of    Hydraulic   Cement 
Mined  in  the  Lehigh  Valley 


WITH    A    DESCRIPTION    OF    IT'S    USE 
IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS 


BY  WILLIAM  H.  GLACE 


1912 


PREFACE. 

Some  time  ago  in  conversation  with  Hon.  Frank  M. 
Trexler,  I  casually  stated  that  my  father,  Samuel  Glace, 
erected  the  first  mill  and  manufactured  Natural  Cement 
in  the  Lehigh  Valley  in  1826,  when  he  stated  that  all 
books  on  the  subject  stated  it  was  at  Coplay  in  1864,  and 
that  if  I  would  write  a  sketch  of  the  matter  it  would  be  an 
interesting  contribution  to  local  history. 

In  accordance  with  this  suggestion  I  have  prepared 
this  sketch : 

WILLIAM  H.  GLACE. 
Catasauqua,  Pa.,  February  12,  1912. 


T~7  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNI 

V    '         —  SANTA  BARBARA 


A  NARRATIVE  OF  HYDRAULIC  CEMENT 

Mined  in  the  Lehigh  Valley 


Natural  cement  has  been  in  use  in  the  United  States 
near  a  hundred  years,  it  being  used  in  the  construction 
of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1819. 

In  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  the  Lehigh 
Canal  in  the  early  days  it  was  manufactured  in  two  pla- 
ces—at Lehigh  Gap  in  1826-1830,  and  at  Siegfried's,  Pa., 
from  1830  to  1841  by  the  late  Samuel  Glace. 

The  hydraulic  cement,  as  it  was  then  called  at  the  Gap 
Mill,  was  considered  by  the  Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation 
engineers  of  greater  strength  than  that  made  at  Sieg- 
fried's and  all  the  locks  and  other  structures  North  of 
the  Gap  were  built  from  cement  made  at  this  mill. 

The  engineers  in  locating  the  proposed  Canal  found 
cement  rock  which  had  been  washed  down  from  Sandy 
Ridge  by  the  erosion  of  ages  and,  tracing  the  same,  found 
the  "pocket"  in  the  top  overlooking  the  present  Palmer- 
ton  Zinc  Works. 

Abiel  Abbott,  of  Forty  Fort,  Pa.,  one  of  the  first  super- 
intendents of  the  Lehigh  Co.,  upon  assuming  his  duties 
brought  with  him  a  number  of  hardy  young  men  from 
the  Wyoming  Valley  and  southern  portion  of  Luzerne 
Co.,  whose  knowledge  of  river  life  and  fair  English  school 
education  would  fit  them  to  hold  positions  in  the  con- 
struction and  maintenance  of  the  canal. 

Amongst  them  were  Chauncey  D.  Fuller,  Samuel 
Glace,  Joseph  Wheeler,  George  Knickerbocker,  George 
Cooper,  Joseph  Chapman,  Nathan  Van  Horn,  John 
Brown,  Austin  Peckins  and  others.  Few  returned  and 
the  descendants  of  the  others  remain  with  us. 


To  Samuel  Glace  was  assigned  the  proposed  erection 
of  the  cement  mill  at  Lehigh  Gap,  which  was  done  under 
direction  of  the  Company  V  engineers. 

In  October,  1906,  in  company  of  Tyndale  Craig  and  a 
photographer  we  visited  the  place  and  had  views  taken. 

From  the  late  Col.  Thos.  B.  Craig  and  Nathan  Van 
Horn  I  obtained  a  fair  description  of  the  plant. 

It  was  situated  between  the  present  canal  and  river  op- 
posite Craig's  hotel.  The  kilns  were  built  against  the  west 
bank  of  the  proposed  canal,  and  from  the  ruins  it  appears 
were  four  in  number,  and  were  erected  from  fire  stones, 
a  granite  so  hard  that  fire  had  little  effect,  and  in  ap- 
pearance resembled  a  lime  kiln,  but  conical  in  shape,  10 
to  15  feet  in  height,  sloping  toward  the  top  with  eyes  or 
numerous  openings  at  the  bottom  to  create  a  draft  to 
burn  the  cement  with  the  wood,  which  was  placed  in  lay- 
ers in  an  upright  position,  thus  to  burn  rapidly  and  pre- 
vent caking  of  the  cement.  A  dam  had  been  placed  at 
the  river  bank  to  divert  the  water  into  a  race,  at  the  end 
of  which  was  an  overshot  wheel  to  create  the  motive  pow- 
er for  the  -burrs  or  mill  stones  to  crush  the  stones,  the 
kilns  were  kept  burning  day  and  night,  and  after  being 
emptied,  allowed  to  cool  and  then  again  refilled. 

As  soon  as  a  kiln  was  properly  burned,  it  was  drawn 
up  an  inclined  plane,  thrown  into  a  hopper,  same  as  a 
grist  mill,  and  being  ground  fine  was  at  bottom  placed  in 
wooden  boxes  or  trays  with  handles  at  both  ends,  so  two 
men  facing  in  the  same  direction  could  carry  them  ready 
to  be  used  and  transported  to  places  where  locks  and 
kindred  constructions  were  being  erected,  and  culverts 
to  carry  running  water  from  springs  and  natural  water 
courses  under  the  bed  of  canal. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Tjmdale  Craig,  I  was  shown 
the  ruins  of  the  first  plant  for  grinding  and  preparing 
the  "Hydraulic  Cement,"  as  it  was  then  called.  The 


foundations  and  cribbing  where  the  river  had  been 
dammed  to  run  the  overshot  wheel,  and  the  holes  where 
the  kilns  stood  were  all  plainly  visible.  Mr.  Van  Horn, 
a  few  years  prior  to  his  death,  informed  me  that  the 
cement  made  here  was  superior  to  that  of  the  Siegfried 
plant,  and  in  the  demolishing  and  abandonment  of  the 
weigh-loeks  below  Mauch  Chunk  upon  the  completion  of 
the  Lehigh  and  Susquehanna  R.  R.  it  required  extensive 
blasting  and  the  highest  then  known  explosive  to  .break 
up  solid  walls  of  which  the  lock  was  composed,  this  being 
sixty  years  after  its  erection.  After  the  mills  were  oper- 
ated five  or  six  years,  it  was  found  the  "pocket  of  ce- 
ment" was  likely  to  become  exhausted  and  a  search  was 
made  for  a  further  supply,  but  none  was  found  sufficient. 

Out-cropping  of  cement  was  found  on  this  ridge  six 
miles  east  of  the  Lehigh  Gap,  where  the  Aquashicola 
Creek  flows  through  a  gap.  This  Sandy  mountain  is  a 
spur  of  the  Blue  Mountain,  running  parallel  to  it  to  the 
Delaware  River,  one  mile  north  of  the  Northern  side, 
and  at  places  rises  to  quite  an  altitude. 

These  investigations,  which  showed  no  further  pockets 
of  cement,  were  in  later  years  found  to  be  correct. 

The  ridge  has  been  the  despair  of  promoters.  Plum- 
bago, .cement,  limestone,  slate  and  many  other  kinds  of 
minerals  have  been  found.  The  mountain  has  been  tun- 
neled six  miles  from  the  river  eastward,  much  money 
sunk,  but  no  paying  proposition  evidenced,  save  the  oper- 
ation of  the  "Prince  Paint  Co.,"  and  in  later  years, 
when  vast  bodies  of  sand  have  been  worked  and  a  limited 
quantity  found  its  way  to  the  market,  but  the  freight  was 
an  obstacle  to  its  general  use. 

The  cement  was  taken  from  the  "pocket"  and  after- 
ward loaded  in  wagons,  and  owing  to  the  steep  moun- 
tains it  was  tfiken  by  way  of  Towarnensing  church,  on 


the  road  passing  Snyders,  now  Palmerton,  to  the  Gap,  a 
distance  of  near  six  miles,  which  was  expensive. 

Fortunately,  in  digging  the  canal  at  Siegfrieds,  cement 
rock  was  found,  though  much  harder.  Preparations 
were  made  to  abandon  the  plant,  and  my  father,  Samuel 
Glace,  then  made  his  headquarters  at  the  old  stone  hotel, 
still  standing  on  the  ridge  above  the  entrance  to  the 
bridge  at  Siegfrieds.  The  tail-race  of  the  lock  which 
drains  the  surplus  water  from  the  canal  above  the  lock 
was  used  to  provide  the  motive  power  to  run  the  over- 
shot wheel  to  grind  the  stone.  These  kilns  were  built 
much  larger  than  the  former  ones. 

Capt.  Theodore  H.  Howell,  residing  at  Siegfrieds,  in- 
formed me  that  when  he  came  there  in  1837  there  were 
four  kilns  erected  and  in  operation.  They  were  known 
as  draw  kilns,  fire  being  placed  in  the  eye  at  the  bottom 
of  the  kilns,  drawn  at  the  bottom  and  hoisted  up  an  in- 
cline plane  or  tramway  and  emptied  into  a  hopper,  where 
the  stone  were  crushed  by  machinery  shaped  like  a  corn 
crusher,  then  dropped  down  and  ground  by  burr  mill- 
stones, then  placed  in  boxes  or  trays  with  handles,  then 
transported  in  scows  to  points  on  canal  where  needed. 
These  scows  were  drawn  by  mules  with  a  steersman  on  a 
platform  on  the  rear  of  the  scow,  having  a  large  tiller, 
15  feet  long,  ending  in  a  large  blade  or  paddle,  which 
tiller  was  fastened  on  a  socket  at  the  balance  point,  and 
thus  lifted  with  little  exertion  at  will,  and  when  in  use 
was  a  powerful  means  to  turn  the  boat  in  any  direction 
wanted.  At  that  time  the  capacity  of  this  plant  was  ten 
barrels  per  day. 

The  canal,  from  this  place  down  to  the  Allentown  dam, 
was  through  a  farming  community,  and  the  loam  and 
clay  on  the  banks  of  the  canal  were  vulnerable  places  for 
the  muskrats,  which  were  plentiful.  They  seemed  to  be 
busy  constantly,  and  would  in  a  short  time  make  a  hole 


in  the  embankment,  which  if  not  attended  to,  would 
empty  the  canal  and  stop  transportation. 

The  method  to  remedy  this  was  an  alarm  given  by  the 
bank  watchman,  the  scow  or  cement  boat  sent  for,  which 
with  the  mules  trotting,  a  man  in  front  blowing  a  horn, 
giving  them  the  right  of  way,  the  steersman  on  his  plat- 
form at  the  rear,  mean-while  the  workingmen  were 
emptying  the  trays  (which  had  been  covered  with  a  tar- 
paulin), on  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  mixing  it  with  gravel 
and  sand,  dipping  up  water  from  the  canal  and  making 
the  concrete.  As  soon  as  the  leak  was  reached  a  small 
coffer  dam  was  built  around  it,  water  emptied  and  the 
concrete  applied,  stamped  with  wooden  stampers  in  the 
break,  the  frame  work  removed  as  soon  as  grouting  hard- 
ened. In  those  years  Samuel  Glace  was  supervisor  of  the 
canal  from  Slate  Dam  to  Allentown  Dam,  in  addition  to 
the  cement  work  at  Siegfrieds  until  1841. 

He  made  daily  double  trips  on  horseback  and  in  those 
primitive  times  attention  was  frequently  called  to  him  as 
the  only  man  between  those  points  who  on  work  days 
wore  a  white  shirt  and  stand-up  collar,  with  a  black 
stock. 

In  the  fall  of  1838,  while  passing  along  the  line  at  the 
lock  near  Catasauqua,  he  noticed  Frederick  Biery,  owner 
of  the  farm,  Owen  Rice,  manager  of  Moravian  Communi- 
ty affairs  at  Bethlehem,  and  several  other  gentlemen, 
standing  on  the  east  bank  and  looking  in  various  direc- 
tions, made  inquiry  of  the  lock-tender,  Jonathan  Snyder, 
what  was  the  matter,  and  receiving  no  solution  to  his 
question,  he  passed  over  to  see  whether  a  leak  had  devel- 
oped. 

He  was  introduced  to  two  gentlemen  from  Philadel- 
phia, Directors  of  the  Navigation  Company,  and  in- 
formed they  had  purchased  the  farm,  the  title  passing 
to  Mr.  Rice  until  the  corporation  was  formed  and  would 


erect  a  furnace,  as  this  appeared  to  be  the  only  level 
ground  on  the  line  within  reasonable  distance  of  the  hem- 
atite ores.  In  a  few  days  he  received  notice  to  sink 
shafts  or  holes  at  different  points  on  the  place  to  see  if 
proper  foundation  could  be  obtained. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  stockholders  and  sub- 
scribers to  this  enterprise,  that  is  many  of  them,  were  the 
stockholders  of  the  Navigation  Company,  and  their  ob- 
ject was  to  obtain  a  market  for  their  coal,  not  then  in  gen- 
eral use,  and  also  to  secure  transportation  on  their  canal. 
If  the  Sherman  trust  law  had  been  in  force  then  it  would 
not  have  been  in  violation  thereof,  but  rather  in  complete 
accordance  therewith  under  the  Supreme  Court  decis- 
ions. 

When  David  Thomas  came  here  in  1839  the  blast  to 
run  the  furnace  was  made  by  the  motive  power  of  large 
water-wheels,  and  my  father  constructed  the  race  or 
channel  leading  from  the  canal  to  the  overshot  wheels, 
then  passing  into  the  canal  again  below  the  lock,  during 
which  much  cement  was  used.  When  it  came  to  the  erec- 
tion of  the  furnace  Mr.  Thomas  was  much  concerned  to 
obtain  the  necessary  hearth  for  the  bottom  of  the  furnace. 
Fire-bricks,  manufactured  at  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.,  were 
only  as  large  as  the  ordinary  bricks  of  to-day,  and  no 
large  fire-bricks  made  in  the  United  States.  To  send  to 
Wales  would  mean  a  question  of  three  months,  as  it  took 
him  over  six  weeks  to  make  the  voyage  from  Europe. 

My  father  suggested  to  him,  he  being  a  stranger  in  a 
strange  land,  to  use  the  fire-stones  above  the  Gap.  He 
was  soon  ordered  from  the  Mauch  Chunk  office  to  send 
men  up,  and  selecting  the  stones,  he  had  them  cut,  taken 
to  the  canal  and  brought  down  in  boats.  After  they 
were  placed  in  position  he  made  a  grouting  of  cement  and 
spread  it  thick  as  a  layer  on  top  and  sides,  filling  all  the 


This  answered  the  purpose  until  about  1851-52,  when 
large  fire-bricks  came  into  the  market,  and  the  old  plan 
was  no  longer  used,  as  it  was  a  difficult  job  when  a  fur- 
nace was  extinguished,  needing  a  new  lining,  to  blast  out 
the  foundation,  which  had  become  heavily  encrusted  with 
the  debris  mixed  with  iron. 

The  engraving  shows  these  stones  partially  prepared, 
and  for  some  reason  abandoned,  as  it  was  left  on  the 
mountain  70  years  ago,  and  photographed  when  I  was 
there  in  1906.  During  those  first  two  years  Mr.  Thomas, 
recognizing  his  executive  ability,  made  several  efforts  to 
induce  my  father  to  enter  his  employ,  as  his  oldest  son 
was  then  only  13  years  of  age,  but  he  firmly  declined. 
But  there  came  a  change  in  1841 ;  a  freshet  in  that  year 
destroyed  a  greater  part  of  the  canal.  This  made  the 
Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Company,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, insolvent,  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  money.  For  some 
years  Navigation  scrip,  certificates  of  indebtedness,  had 
been  given  in  payment  of  wages  and  materials,  bearing 
interest,  to  creditors,  which  passed  all  along  the  line  as 
cash,  and  now  in  48  hours  these  proved  worthless  and 
could  not  be  sold  at  ten  cents  on  the  dollar. 

No  person,  unless  they  examine  into  the  status  of  the 
money  affairs  of  our  nation  at  that  period,  can  have  any 
conception  of  conditions  that  then  prevailed,  and  had 
prevailed  following  the  veto  of  President  Jackson  of  the 
rechartering  of  the  United  States  bank  at  Philadelphia. 
Wealth  consisted  mainly  in  land  and  cattle.  Only  one 
bank,  that  at  Easton,  between  there  and  Wilkes  Barre. 
The  little  specie  in  circulation  was  mostly  Spanish, 
levies,  fips  and  quarters,  Mexican  dollars,  and  Amer- 
ican cents,  larger  in  size  than  our  present  twenty-five 
cent  piece.  These  coins  were  much  depreciated  in  value, 
owing  to  many  years  of  wear,  which  coins  only  went  out 
of  circulation,  and  into  the  smelting  pot,  owing  to  the 
rise  of  silver  during  the  civil  war. 


There  were  some  American  dollars  .in  circulation, 
which  were  highly  prized  and  looked  to  the  holder  al- 
most as  large  as  a  cart  wheel. 

Then  there  was  the  prejudice  against  the  banks  and 
corporations  generally,  which  had  existed  as  a  slogan  of 
the  political  party  then  in  power  and  were  avoided  as 
something  that  would  destroy  their  liberties  and  would 
prevent  them  from  enjoying  the  full  blessings  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

Naturally,  my  father  felt  depressed,  as  all  his  savings, 
some  $3,000,  were  in  scrip,  the  savings  of  a  lifetime,  and 
being  then  36  years  of  age.  At  this 'juncture  Mr.  Thom- 
as renewed  his  offer,  and  further  agreeing  to  take  his 
scrip,  which  was  also  payable  in  lump  coal  at  the  mines, 
giving  him  a  note  of  the  Lehigh-Crane  Tron  Co.,  there- 
fore, with  interest. 

Now,  as  he  had  no  use  for  coal,  nearly  every  person  us- 
ing wood  for  household  purposes,  and  no  stoves  then  man- 
ufactured to  burn  coal,  he  willingly  accepted  the  offer. 

He  then  moved  to  Catasauqua,  and  the  freshet  of  1841 
was  the  inducing  cause  of  the  writer's  childhood  days 
and  those  of  his  succeeding  manhood  residence  here. 

From  that  time  until  1873  he  remained  in  the  employ 
of  the  Lehigh  Crane  Iron  Co.  He  had  obtained  a  good 
English  education,  his  father  moving  from  Lancaster 
county  in  1807,  when  he  was  two  years  of  age,  to  become 
manager  of  the  farms  of  the  ' '  Conyingham  's, "  a  family 
then,  as  now,  prominent  in  the  city  of  Lancaster.  They 
had  large  landed  interests  in  the  southern  section  of 
Lancaster  county,  and  founded  the  village  of  Conying- 
ham on  the  turn-pike  between  Hazleton  and  Berwick ; 
and  whilst  Pennsylvania  German  was  the  language  of  his 
father's  family,  the  surroundings  here  were  "English." 
The  Conyinghams  maintained  a  good  English  school  in 
the  settlement,  advantage  of  which  he  enjoyed.  In  1826 
he  occasionally  traveled  to  Wilkes  Barre  to  consult  with 


a  lawyer  in  relation  to  the  settlement  of  his  father's  es- 
tate, who  was  a  son  of  the  proprietor  and  afterward  be- 
came President  Judge  of  the  Luzerne  County  Courts. 
Through  his  influence  he  became  acquainted  with  Super- 
intendent Abbott,  of  the  canal  company,  then  about 
assuming  his  duties,  and  the  result  was  his  going  to 
Mauch  Chunk  as  afore  stated. 

In  addition  to  his  correct  English  he  was  a  fine  pen- 
man, making  his  own  pens  from  quills  as  was  the  custom, 
and  his  knowledge  of  Pennsylvania  German,  then  indis- 
pensable. All  these  proved  dominant  factors  in  the  po- 
sition he  was  about  to  assume. 

Shortly,  two  more  furnaces  were  erected  and  subse- 
quently, in  1850,  two  more,  as  the  business  had  become 
financially  a  great  success.  The  late  Samuel  A.  Bridges 
informed  me  when  a  student  at  law  that  a  decision  had 
been  handed  down  by  the  Supreme  Court  where,  in  the 
history  of  the  case  as  published,  it  was  shown  in  litigation 
between  members  of  a  family,  the  head  of  whom  had 
been  a  large  stockholder  in  the  "Crane,"  that  the  div- 
idends for  quite  a  time  had  amounted  to  40  per  cent. 

About  this  time,  1841,  the  charcoal  furnaces  were  mak- 
ing some  inroads  on  the  deposits  of  hematite  ore,  one  in 
the  Aquashicola  and  one  at  Big  Creek,  both  in  Carbon 
county,  and  the  Lehigh  or  Balliett's  furnace  above  Slat- 
ington,  and  rumors  that  the  Balliett's  would  erect  fur- 
naces at  Allentown,  which  they  afterward  did.  So  no 
time  was  to  be  lost,  and  my  father  was  appointed  Mining 
Agent. 

He  explored  the  fields  of  the  county,  made  a  lease  on 
the  Troxell's  farm,  called  Ritter's  ore  bed,  North  of 
Egypt,  where  a  large  deposit  was  discovered,  which  re- 
sulted afterward  in  litigation  which  found  its  way  to  the 
Supreme  Court  and  resulted  in  a  resumption  of  mining 
until  the  deposit  was  exhausted.  Also  in  the  vicinity  of 
what  is  now  Ironton,  throughout  East  Texas,  the  White- 


halls,  Maeungies  and  the  Lehigh  mountain,  thence  to 
Hanover  township,  in  Northampton,  and  mines  in  Han- 
over township,  Lehigh  county.  A  large  deposit  above 
Siegersville,  called  Chamber's  ore  bed,  reopened  the  mine 
near  the  cemetery  at  Catasauqua,  which  had  been  mined 
by  the  charcoal  people,  and  at  Mickleys,  back  in  the 
woods  near  Seiple's  station.  The  mines  near  the  Le- 
high were  mostly  wash  ore.  A  washery,  therefore,  was 
erected  where  the  L.  V.  depot  here  is  erected,  the  tail 
race  now  being  used  by  the  C.  &  F.  R.  R.  to  supply  with 
a  turbine  the  locomotives  with  water.  Another  washery 
below  the  dam  at  Hokendauqua  was  also  erected. 

A  difficulty  soon  arose  here,  as  the  riparian  owners 
objected  to  the  deposit  of  mine  water  into  the  river.  Lit- 
igation ensued  which  ended  in  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
opinion  rendered  implied,  as  Mr.  Samuel  Thomas  in- 
formed me,  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  throttle  an  in- 
fant industry,  which  would  result  in  the  development  of 
the  mineral  wealth  of  the  Commonwealth.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  at  this  time  no  such  opinion  would  be 
handed  down.  Of  all  these  deposits  none  exceeded  the 
Guth's  mine,  now  known  as  the  Koch  and  Balliett  mine, 
near  Guth's  station.  This  mine  had  been  opened  by  the 
charcoal  people  and  ore  smelted  into  charcoal  iron  at  the 
Balliett  furnaces,  but  no  one  ever  expected  that  the  mine 
would  develop  as  it  did.  During  the  years  up  to  1854 
my  father  mined  tens  of  thousands  of  tons,  the  teams 
carting  the  ore  to  the  furnaces  in  a  line  at  times  nearly 
a  mile  in  length,  this  being  prior  to  the  construction  of 
the  Catasauqua  and  Pogelsville  railroad. 

He  thus  attracted  the  attention  of  Samuel  Lewis,  Sr., 
who  offered  increased  salary,  but  he  never  wavered  in  his 
allegiance  to  the  person  through  whom  the  savings  of  a 
lifetime  had  been  retrieved.  His  attention  was  not  whol- 
ly taken  up  with  this  work,  for  in  1846-7,  when  the  Crane 
Iron  Company  installed  their  water  plant  for  the  houses 


occupied  by  their  employees  he  erected  a  reservoir.  It 
was  lined  with  bricks  lined  with  cement,  grouted  in  the 
bottom,  on  outer  side  banked  tup,  covered  with  a  tower, 
an  opening  near  the  top  which  when  the  cistern  was  full 
would  automatically  flow  out  into  the  company's  field, 
where  it  percolated  through  the  lime  stone  and  found  its 
way  to  the  Catasauqua  creek.  This  field  became  a  fa- 
mous swimming  pool  for  the  boys  of  that  day  and  in  the 
winter  a  splendid  skating  place. 

In  1854,  when  the  charter  of  the  Catasauqua  Gas  Co. 
was  obtained,  he  erected  a  large  reservoir,  to  hold  gas  for 
storage,  and  to-day  it  is  impregnable,  the  same  methods 
with  the  cement  being  used. 

The  reservoir  built  in  1846-7  became  too  small  for  the 
Crane  Co.,  having  obtained  a  special  act  from  the  Leg- 
islature to  furnish  water  to  the  inhabitants  of  Catasauqua 
and  vicinity.  About  five  years  ago  the  old  cistern  foun- 
dation was  demolished  to  furnish  room  for  a  tenant 
house  for  the  gardener  of  the  Williams'  estate.  Mr. 
Kern,  the  gardener,  informed  me  that  the  walls  were 
solid  as  granite,  and  it  was  only  demolished  by  repeated 
explosions  of  dynamite.  His  last  work  was  in  1872, -when 
he  erected  a  new  reservoir  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
Borough,  the  same  methods  being  used.  The  walls  at 
this  time  are  impregnable,  and  look  as  if  they  would  last 
for  centuries ;  but  what  no  person  could  foresee,  it  rested 
on  a  limestone  fissure  or  cavern,  which,  owing  to  natural 
causes,  after  20  years,  gave  way,  and  the  present  stand- 
pipe  was  erected  in  its  place. 

In  1851  there  was  another  large  freshet  in  the  Lehigh 
canal.  The  damage  was  not  as  great  as  10  years  prior, 
but  after  the  canal  was  repaired  there  remained  only  a 
short  time  'ere  winter  would  close  navigation.  There 
were  no  railroads  here  then,  and  with  but  a  small  supply 
of  coal,  there  appeared  no  remedy  and  the  furnaces 
would  be  blown  out  until  spring.  In  this  dilemma  my 


father  was  called  from  his  other  work  and  sent  to  Mauch 
Chunk  to  obtain  the  boats  to  transport  the  coal. 

Many  of  the  boatmen  owned  their  own  boats  at  that 
time  and  he  established  his  headquarters  at  the  weigh- 
lock,  one  mile  south  of  Mauch  Chunk  Church,  and  as  the 
boats  passed  up  through  the  lock  made  arrangements 
with  the  Captains,  as  they  all  knew  him,  and  had  confi- 
dence in  him,  and  his  offer  of  an  increase  of  freight  cap- 
tured the  bulk  of  the  output  and  the  situation  was  saved, 
the  furnaces  remaining  in  blast  continuously  during  the 
winter. 

In  1851-2  he  constructed  a  new  canal  from  the  fur- 
naces to  the  Hokendauqua  dam,  then  known  as  Swartz's 
dam.  There  were  two  more  furnaces  erected  in  1850, 
and  as  the  power  used  to  make  blast  was  by  overshot 
wheels,  the  old  canal  became  dangerous,  the  water  rush- 
ing rapidly,  and  boats  loaded  with  coal  would  be  caught 
in  the  torrent,  would  turn  turtle,  boatmen  drown  in  the 
miniature  Niagara. 

Therefore  a  new  canal  was  constructed,  parallel  to  the 
old,  which  is  now  in  use.  In  that  day  there  were  no 
dredges,  and  it  was  quite  a  sight  to  see  three  gangs  of 
thirty  or  more  men  each  wheeling  the  ground  up  an  in- 
clined plane,  built  on  trestling,  to  make  the  high  west 
embankment.  There  was  also  a  large  basin  dug  from  the 
lock  to  the  cinder  bank  on  the  river  to  act  as  a  buffer  and 
back  water  to  remedy  the  rushing  canal.  Cement  grout- 
ing was  extensively  used  in  this  work,  and  for  the  small 
aqueducts  to  lead  the  water  from  the  two  springs,  Peter's 
and  Faust's,  under  the  bed  of  the  canal  to  the  river. 
One  of  the  small  aqueducts  is  still  in  use,  by  the  Bryden 
Horse  Shoe  Co.,  who  thus  have  an  outlet  for  their  water 
to  the  river.  It  has  never  caused  trouble  and  apparently 
is  as  perfect  as  it  was  when,. erected  60  years  ago.  In  ad- 
dition there  was  erected  a  'tunnel  to  carry  away  the  sur- 
plus water  to  the  river,  opposite  the  lock. 


The  first  cement  mill  was  completely  destroyed  by  the 
1841  freshet.  The  second  plant,  at  Siegfrieds,  is  now  in 
ruins.  Subsequently*  about  1860,  it  was  leased  by  Mes- 
srs. Menninger,  Kohl,  Eckert  and  Ackerman.  Tt  was 
purchased  from  the  Ackermans  of  New  Jersey,  operated 
for  a  time  and  sold  to  the  Laurence  Cement  Co.,  who  now 
have  their  extensive  and  prosperous  plant  adjoining  and 
equipped  with  modern  appliances  and  machinery. 

In  conclusion  I  would  state,  my  father  retired  in  1872, 
having  accumulated  a  reasonable  competency,  and  lived 
thereafter  20  years.  He  was  of  correct  habits,  having 
as  far  as  known  no  personal  enemy,  and  by  his  Christian 
life  his  influence  has  been  to  me  a  constant  benediction. 
He  died  January  3,  1892,  aged'  86  years,  2  months  and 
22  days. 


Finis. 


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Series  9482 


